Moving mechanical joints, such as universal joints, and bearings for drive shafts, and the like are often packaged with a so-called permanent lubricant. The lubricant is intended to last the life of the joint or bearing. However, it is often the case that the lubricant is dissipated or extruded from the joint or bearing and that loss causes the joint or bearing to fail. Had an adequate supply of the lubricant continued to exist, the joint or bearing would not have failed.
For a variety of reasons, many such devices are not provided with grease fittings such as the well-known zerc fitting. Consequently, the permanently-lubricated joints and bearings are unduly limited in their life spans.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a lubricant reservoir that can be installed in so-called permanent-lubricated joints and bearings. A further object is to provide a lubricant reservoir that can be substituted for the conventional zerc fitting or other conventional grease fitting to provide for semi-automatic joint or bearing lubrication.